Anti-Drug D.A.R.E. Posts Pro-Legalization Article

The out-of-character, accidental posting on the harms of the drug war was quickly removed

Those who grew up in certain generations would likely have been subjected to in-school anti-drug tirades by the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E. for short. On Monday, July 27, the organization published a letter penned by their former deputy sheriff, Carlis McDerment, and addressed to the editor of The Columbus Dispatch.

Washington Post reporter Christopher Ingraham noticed the slip-up that defied decades of drug war propaganda that quickly became a hallmark of D.A.R.E. educational programs.

In the letter, McDerment implies that the War on Drugs is more damaging than the effects of Cannabis themselves, in terms of both children and communities, in addition to labeling himself a supporter of pot legalization:

"The goal of prohibiting marijuana was to eradicate its use, but in reality, the drug has become infinitely harder for law enforcement to control. People like me, and other advocates of marijuana legalization, are not totally blind to the harms that drugs pose to children. We just happen to know that legalizing and regulating marijuana will actually make everyone safer. Merely decriminalizing it will do nothing to undercut the dangerous illicit market that is currently selling to kids everywhere."

McDerment continues by suggesting that legalization would allow more control over in whose hands weed ends up, saying, "I support legalization precisely because I want to reduce youths' drug use." He ends the missive by citing the failed prohibition of alcohol that caused numerous problems, labeling them "violent catastrophes," and hoping that the state of Ohio is not to go down in history as "one of the last bastions of marijuana hysteria."

The organization insists that it "[does] not support legalization, nor do we advocate for legalization of marijuana."

The article was subsequently removed from its website, although there is a screen grab available for viewing at The Leaf.